Layer Hall effect induced by hidden Berry curvature in antiferromagnetic insulators

Rui Chen; Hai-Peng Sun; Mingqiang Gu; Chun-Bo Hua; Qihang Liu; Hai-Zhou Lu; X C Xie

doi:10.1093/nsr/nwac140

Layer Hall effect induced by hidden Berry curvature in antiferromagnetic insulators

Natl Sci Rev. 2022 Aug 6;11(2):nwac140. doi: 10.1093/nsr/nwac140. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Authors

Rui Chen^{1

2}, Hai-Peng Sun^{1

3}, Mingqiang Gu¹, Chun-Bo Hua⁴, Qihang Liu^{1

5}, Hai-Zhou Lu^{1

2

6}, X C Xie^{7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering and Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen 518055, China.
² International Quantum Academy, Shenzhen 518048, China.
³ Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97074, Germany.
⁴ School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China.
⁵ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Computational Science and Material Design, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁶ Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Quantum Science and Engineering, Shenzhen 518055, China.
⁷ International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
⁸ Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Beijing 100871, China.
⁹ CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.

Abstract

The layer Hall effect describes electrons spontaneously deflected to opposite sides at different layers, which has been experimentally reported in the MnBi₂Te₄ thin films under perpendicular electric fields. Here, we reveal a universal origin of the layer Hall effect in terms of the so-called hidden Berry curvature, as well as material design principles. Hence, it gives rise to zero Berry curvature in momentum space but non-zero layer-locked hidden Berry curvature in real space. We show that, compared to that of a trivial insulator, the layer Hall effect is significantly enhanced in antiferromagnetic topological insulators. Our universal picture provides a paradigm for revealing the hidden physics as a result of the interplay between the global and local symmetries, and can be generalized in various scenarios.

Keywords: antiferromagnetic insulator; axion insulator; hidden Berry curvature; layer Hall effect; quantum transport.